Census categories misrepresent the ‘street race’ of Latinos, Afro Latinos, report says Boston 25 News [Video]

For many Latinos filling out forms that ask for racial and ethnic identification can be daunting and confusing, especially when there is not a box that reflects their identity.

This often leaves many Latinos checking Hispanic boxes that do not encompass who they are and creating data that does not reflect their lived experiences, according to a new report released Wednesday by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Analysis by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute showed that the methods used by the U.S. Census and Office of Management and Budget to collect racial and ethnic data does not reflect the lived experiences of Latinos, especially Afro-Latinos. The report also provides some suggestions on how to generally improve collection of racial and ethnic data.

“The current methods of data collection used by the OMB fail to accurately reflect the realities of racial discrimination faced by Latinos,” said …